1924 World Series film found in Massachusetts garage

A routine check of an estate unearthed footage of the Washington Senators' 1924 World Series win

Film cans of the Washington Senators winning the 1924 World Series have been discovered in the rafters of an old garage, following the routine check of a Massachusetts estate.

The eight cans of film show the team in its only World Series win, after finishing the American League two games ahead of Babe Ruth and his New York Yankees. It is the only such footage know to exist, exciting collectors around the world.

The nitrate films were shippedto the Harvard Film Archive, which discovered that the reels ranged from 1919 to 1926.

The Senators' win is the only time a DC team has secured the World Series

One of these was a Kinograms newsreel, which contains a story on Game 7 of the World Series, which was won by the Senators in an extra innings victory over the New York Giants.

"We baseball geeks (or, rather, historians) know the game for the heroic efforts of Senators ace Walter 'Big Train' Johnson, who pitched the last four innings on short rest. It's the only time a DC baseball team has won the World Seriesat least until this year, we hope," said Mike Mashon, who was involved with the restoration project.

"I've seen pictures of the game but never any film footage, and to watch Muddy Ruel lumbering home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning was, well, almost like being there. Ninety years on, you can feel the electric joy of the crowd surging on to the Griffith Stadium field."

The film has since been photo-chemically preserved on safety film stock and has received a musical score from pianist Andrew Simpson.It is not clear if the film will be put up for auction.

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